Do you have a Chuggington freak in your house like I do? Baby G doesn’t go anywhere without his Old Puffer Pete engine.
The show is cute. If you don’t know what it’s about - here’s my reader’s digest: bunch o’ little chuggers learning the Chuggington way of life on the rails. Merriment and lessons abound. Lil chuggers screw up, rise from the ashes and earn some badges via Badge Quest along the way. My kids (almost 6 and almost 3) LOVE IT. And don’t tell anyone, but I do, too. The trains aren’t too whiny, the lessons learned are not too heavy handed and it’s well animated. My husband points out that it’s incredibly fast paced with a lot of quick cuts. I point out that it has riveting plot lines.
But what’s the best part? The swag.
Since we posted this review of the Kidcraft Retro Blue Kitchen almost two years ago, we’ve learned from readers that it’s hard to find, if not impossible. Meanwhile, two years later, our little compact cool-looking galley continues to be a hub of play, particularly when the toddlers come over. Play kitchens are havens for two-year-olds. I am going to go out on a limb and say, if you have a two-year-old, get him or her a kitchen! Or get your spouse one (that’s a hint, Honey…). Okay, so the toddler’s kitchen is cheaper, and he isn’t likely to complain about counter space or the color of the cabinets.
Here’s the good news: the Retro Blue Kitchen is BAAAAAAAAAAAACK! In red! Personalized, if you wish!
And with some important updates.
1. Check out that faux refrigerator-door water dispenser!
2. It’s CHEAPER ($110 on Amazon) than the one we previously reviewed, and for an extra $10, you can personalize it (note to Honey: if you buy me a new kitchen, you can skip the personalization).
[Ed. Note: Thanks to GHM contributor Shauna for writing up this review!]
How did Gearhead Mom know that my sad, stained dining room chairs were making me absolutely bonkers? Well, somehow she did and was kind enough to let me review the SmartSeat Chair Protectors. My husband brought a beautiful dining room table with upholstered chairs to our marriage. These seemed so lovely until my first child started eating solids. And then they were not. They were a mess. Somehow everything from her booster seat got onto the upholstery and it got even worse once she stopped using the booster and half of what was meant for her mouth went instead onto the chair. Now every chair is grim looking and I always feel a little chagrined to ask anyone outside of our immediate family to sit in them.
So I needed a solution that did not involve me buying new dining room chairs. And so the SmartSeat covers to the rescue. These were, no surprise, invented by a mom who must have had messy little ones just like I do. (Aren’t mom’s just the most clever and industrious people that you’ve ever come across? Yay, Moms!) They come in khaki and navy and will fit nearly any upholstered dining chair. They attach to the seat using velcro straps that after one false start were on my chair and looking snappy. The fit is very good, although not perfect, at least not on my chair, but is a huge improvement over how it had looked. And the cover is machine washable so that if it ever starts looking sloppy, which it hasn’t yet, I can throw it in the wash and it will be back to new in no time.
Reader Lindsay emailed me asking if I’d ever used the Nosefrida, a high-tech snot sucking mechanism for babies and toddlers. My five year old is a champion nose-blower, and my two year old likes to just smear his boogies all over the furniture, so I’ve never purchased one. But I have to admit, I was also quite curious. I put it out there to my parent pals and my friend Matt gladly wrote a paragraph for us on the wonder that is the Nosefrida. Thanks, Matty!
“For once…I’m supposed to suck at being a dad. A few years ago, I was given a little treat like this to help with my child’s constantly leaky nose. Traumatized by the idea of purposefully sucking out the goobers, I decided to put the little contraption in the medicine cabinet to be lost for eternity. Well, my day/night of reckoning came. In a late night act of desperation…I did it. But not without trying every other option. Saline drops? Check. Cold Humidifier? Check. Warm Humidifier? Check. Let them cry until eternity? A possibility, but no.
Ed. Note: Adrienne from blankyclip asked GHM to review her new product, and I have to say I was a little bit sad when I realized my kids were too old to review it. How did they get so big already? So thanks to my friend Anne for reviewing it for us! Take it away, Anne.
I was given the opportunity as the mother of a fresh baby boy to review blankyclip, the “only plush toy that doubles as a loose tension clip, specifically designed to hold blankets onto strollers, bouncy seats, swings, etc.” I figured why not, as I had only recently realized that I misplaced my favorite Little Giraffe blanket and figured that it most likely fell off of my stroller or carseat. Before the clips came in the mail I checked out the website and while I thought they were cute and smart and seemed to be useful, honestly my first thought was, can I picture myself using these? Like, am I too “cool” to have a duckie or lamb or a teddy bear clip hanging off of my gear?
Because I am sooo cool.
Have you ever used liquid water color paint? I know that liquid water sounds like an oxymoron, but this stuff is more like water than paint. A little goes a long way, and you can even dilute it to make it last even longer. Sy’s art teacher busted this stuff out the other day and the kids geeked out. She diluted the (very bright) paint, and then gave them those little bingo marker bottles as well as eye droppers. We got to play with it on a color diffusing paper (it has a higher cotton count so it diffuses the liquid beautifully) and the paintings turn out more like tie-dyed shirts than water color. They are so nifty! We have ours hanging in the window and they look like little stained glass masterpieces.
I highly recommend this for your budding artist. P.S., most of the links above are to Discount School Supply, the online purveyor of pretty much every art item you could ever think of for your little one. Sy’s art teacher gets her supplies there; I have never purchased from them but I do trust her opinion! She said that she has a harder time finding the color diffusing paper in regular sheets, as a lot of places only sell them in pre-cut shapes these days.
Check out this groovy tube of five containers of eco modeling dough from Eco Kids - handmade in the USA with 100% plant-based coloring. This safe modeling dough contains no chemicals, no artificial dyes and no heavy metals. It is safe enough to eat but not tasty so kids won’t try again!
Each 4 oz container is made from 100% post consumer recycled plastic and the tube is made from 100% post consumer waste. This dough doesn’t dry out like many name brands. If left out overnight, just add a few drops of olive oil and it comes right back! Bonus: you can compost it when you are done! Comes in green, yellow, orange, pink, and blue. You can add a bamboo rolling pin for just four more bucks. Suggested age: 18 months+
I like that the sellers, peek a green, even give us a list of ingredients: flour, salt, cream of tartar, vitamen E oil, organic rosemary oil, sodium benzoate, potassium sorbate, citric acid and fruit, plant and vegetable extracts from beets, spinach, paprika, carrots, purple sweet potato, red cabbage, blueberries and tomatoes.
Happy Eco-Shopping!
Santa only brings one gift per kid in our house, and he’s giving Baby G (and by default, his big sister) a big ol’ cardboard house. Imagination Box Co. makes groovy box houses that your little critters can gleefully deface with markers, crayons, paint, glitter, you name it. It ships flat, comes with a set of water colors and is only $24.95. You can order an extra set of paints for two bucks! Shipping is between about $8.00 and $20.00, depending on how fast you need it. Christmas is fast approaching, but Hanukkah starts on Friday. Giddyup!
I wanted to write a top ten for Picky Eater Tips but realized that even though I’m on my second picky eater, I only have two great tips. So hey, um, readers? Feel free to fill in the other eight.
1) My four year old is a pretty adventurous eater, but has a tough time with new textures or sensations. I realized after many an uneaten packed school lunch returned that she just can’t fathom the idea of picking up a piece of cold, cut fruit. Slimy! Slippery! Cold! So now I cut it up and send it with a toothpick. I stab the first piece so that she doesn’t have to get her finger slimy trying to get the first one. Works like a charm. The fruit container now always comes home empty.
2) My 13 month old pretty much says no to food. Not that into it. Not that concerned with breast-feeding either. I am not sure what he runs on, but whatever it is, it keeps him RUNNING. He has always shunned jarred food and just about anything that comes in a sippy cup or bottle. One thing he does like is little alphabet pasta with broccoli Not exactly a wide variety, but it is a constant. To add a little extra, if I dip the spoon into a jar of baby food and then into the pasta, he’ll eat it. It’s only a few bites at a time, but at least he gets something other than broccoli into his little system that way. Bonus: G’s big sis LOVES jar food and will polish off just about anything but peas (who can blame her?).
OK, readers. Your turn!
Now that Baby G is a full-fledged walker (Watch out lamps!), he has his hands free for all the multi-tasking a newly minted ambulator can handle. His all-time favorite clutchables are his sister’s rain boots (nice little hooks to hold on to), but since jams all kinds of treasures inside, they are a bit heavy to carry around. I was about to recycle a liter-sized water bottle the other day and decided to channel my preschool days and made him a nice new shaker instead. I dried it out, threw some uncooked beans in, put the lid on, taped it over with some very strong, clear packing tape and that was that. Now he wobbles, shakes and rattles his way through the living room at an alarming speed. One year olds are awfully cute.
My two-year-old nephew is phenomenon. When I say phenomenon, I mean this little hard-headed barely-twenty-pounder can survive potential catastrophes like no other. Sure, he lands face down on the ground from time to time. Sure, he cries. But both the prostrating and crying are weapons he uses at will. He doesn’t cry from pain; he protests injustice.
He is a survivor. There is a great photo of the little guy leaping joyously off a picnic table. He lived. Dude, he dusted himself off and maybe even tried to talk a four-year-old into trying it. He’s That Guy. He drives his mom a little nuts.
Plus, he has a six-year-old brother he thinks he rivals. So his mama (errr…the Easter Bunny, that is) was smart to buy him his very own remote-controlled car, and an indestructible one at that.
Baby G was not a fan of the small infant tub we had. Sy loved it when she was wee, he loathed it. Cried like a baby every time we put him in it. Turns out he was incensed that he had to be even slightly reclined, which makes sense since the kid has been sitting up since he was four months old. There are things to SEE out there, people. Mainly things like a big sister, whom he tracks like a border collie.
When I finally realized what the problem was, I pulled Sy’s old Primo EuroBath tub out and it’s been bathing bliss ever since.
I don’t know about you, but my favorite toys EVER were the old school Fisher-Price Little People toys. (Not to sound like a hater, but the new ones are weak. In the little house set we had (and have since sold), the dad is on the phone. What’s up with that? Put the phone down and hang out with your kid. Talk about pigeon-holing the imagination.) My mom saved all of them and that’s all Sy plays with when we go to her house. It’s all I play with when we go to her house. The town with the little mail truck and plastic letters that go through the mail slots is my favorite. Although I am a big fan of the airport. And the parking garage. I could go on…
Anyway, Fisher-Price busted some cool moves and made some new sets to look like the old school ones. The scale is a big larger, but it definitely has the same feel. And they are only $18.00. Way cheaper than the old ones are on Ebay. Anyone have them yet? They have the fold up school and barn. I wonder if they’ll put out more. I hope so!
Ed. Note: Today’s review written by Ashli, mom to two year old B. Thanks, Ash!
I’m a sucker. It was December, and I was trying to divert my toddlers attention from the fact that I was buying her a big ol’ Fisher Price farm. So as we cruised the aisle at Target, I looked for a way to distract her so she wouldn’t notice the box the size of a small Volkswagen going into the bottom of the stroller. And my eyes landed upon this - the Little Tikes PopTunes Melody Bead.
I put it in her lap and took advantage of the “try me!” button. The piano keys lit up! It played songs! She seemed enthralled. I added it to the bottom of the stroller and on Christmas Day it officially became unwrapped and part of the toy entourage.
Any one year old I know will be your best friend for life if you give them wheels, anything with wheels. Once those wee ones can locomote in a homosapien sort of way, they are thrilled with rolling on down the hall with as many accoutrements as they can handle. While I was getting Baby G’s room ready, I pulled out all of Sy’s old toys and came across a favorite wheeled wonder that Sy was given at birth. I had put this wooden push toy away when she was probably about two and realize now I never should have done that! She was thrilled to see this old friend and has played with it almost daily for the past four months.
